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Monday, April 30, 2012

24. something you are grateful for - being able to experience Earth's beauty!

25. looking down

26. black&white

27. Somewhere you went

28. 1pm - hour 14 of travel..sore toosh

29. circle

30. something sad - gloomy skies and no beach insight = sad me.

In other Instagram News:

Grayson came to say welcome home!

I got lots of Bella cuddle time!

And you know you are back to country living when there are fish hanging from the telephone wires..

ALSO: If you were super jealous of how fun April Photo A Day was....here is MAY photo a day! If you have instagram follow me @ xolocoopxo ! I will follow back so we can check out each others photo a days!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

I know I'm usually full of Har Har's and all that. {wait what? I'm not that funny?}.. But today we are getting deep, don't worry..your feet will still touch the bottom of the pool.

Somehow Hawaii does that to me. Gets me thinking.

And what better a way to do that than to walk up and down the beach as the sun beats on your neck while it sets. Hawaii always seems to come at a time when I need it most. When the winds of change are in my life. Something to cushion the blow of defeat, disappointment, and feelings of insecurity. Like a good friend who always knows just the right words to say. Hawaii, you are a good friend.

Anyways, this sunset got me thinking about something I've been trying some what avoid...Change.

Sometimes things fall apart. For whatever reason they just do. No matter how long or hard you try to keep it from happening, your life is just simply meant to go another direction. And so it does.

-"tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Mary Oliver

I absolutely love that! What are you going to do with life? It's wild and it's precious! It sure is!

Life is precious and like I've learnt, life is meant to be enjoyed not just endured!

Amidst all the trials{they are inevitable} we should learn to find the joy along the way{it is there I promise}.

Like a Hawaiian sunset , gorgeous flowers, fresh fruit, and my favorite fish tacos! Or the simple fact of spending time with family, and getting to return to that handsome little Grayson face & cuddles from Bella

Sometimes it takes an escape, a getaway, a vacay from day to day life, to realize that it's ok if things fall apart. It is ok to enjoy life even during the trials, because after all.. Life is precious.

So what am I going to do with my one wild and precious life? Shoot.. I am going to enjoy it! No matter where it takes me!

Bring it on CHANGE! Hit me with your best shot!.. This ain't my first rodeo! {insert all other cliche macho sayings here}

Friday, April 27, 2012

So it's Friday! Happy for you...Sad for me...my flight leaves at 11pm Hawaii time..and it's basically killing me softly...ick. Not thinking about it!
So I think I will go for my last run on the beach. Until next time. sigh.

Run through it ALL!..because you CAN!! ...Are you with me?

Now I suggest you go for a run or a walk sometime this weekend! Your body will thank you for it! ALSO... what could be a better start to a great weekend? Meeting Melissa from LivingHolland ? That's what I thought! So here she is!

3. Italy. This just in, I'm Italian. Whenever I meet people who struggle with my last name I always tell them, "it's Romitti, kind of like spaghetti." (Romitti...Spaghetti..get it?) I'd love to see where my ancestors came from and experience the culture.

5. Czech Republic. If you thought The Grand Canyon is nerdy..wait until you read this. I did a project on the Czech Republic in 7th or 8th grade. I fell in love with the culture while doing the project and have wanted to go there ever since! Especially Prague.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Hope your week is going good! I donno about you but I am loving getting to know these wonderful guest posters of mine! They.are.awesome. Today Lauren from PinkontheCheek is here telling you about her last vacation to Maui! But this lucky girl lives where she can go the beach any day..I'm just a little bit jealous...no big deal!

XOXO

Hello lovely Tipee Canoe readers!

I am taking over Lauren's blog today since she is on a beautiful island soaking in the sun.

I was very happy to be one of her guest bloggers while she took some time off, so when you are done reading this post you can head right on over to my blog at

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

I Wish Wednesday will be back next week! For now I wan't you to meet Rosie! She's got some good traveling tips for you and your significant other!

As for me?.. I'm headed to soak in some sun...since I am feeling kind of sorry for myself and a little bit panicked about having to leave this lovely place in just a few short days...enough enough..I'm gonna cry!

Enjoy your Wednesday!!

XOXO

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I'm very excited to be here while Lauren is having a bit of a holiday in Hawaii. I'm not in the slightest bit jealous! Honestly! Who would swap Hawaii for Germany in April? Well, at the moment I wouldn't, because I am on holiday myself visiting my boyfriend...maybe if he was with me.

Anyways, my name is Rosie and I blog over at Craftbotic...a semi crafty...semi random...friendly place to visit. I am quite a new blogger, but have always been quite creative and talkative. I love challenges, quizzes and goals. I guess I'm quite driven in that sense....but more than that, I never seem to take the easy route in life...like my boyfriend who lives in a different country. A lot of people can't understand why I can't just date someone in England.

(In Lyon!)

Well, I can't, because he is perfect for me and actually we make it work in our own way. One of the ways we do this is by making sure that when I visit we go to new places and have lots of fun. I am here today to tell you about one of the activities that we have done together that was really entertaining.

(Taken in Darwin Australia)

Sometimes when you visit places you want to sit on your butt on a beach and chill out (see above). Other times you want to get lost in the atmosphere and then there are those places where there are lots of 'must see' sights and not a lot of time to do so. This is where the 'photo challenge' comes in.

I made a fun photo challenge for my boyfriend (actually as part of his Christmas present) for Mannheim - which is where he was moving too. I've never been there myself, but I only had to look at the tourist information site to recognise what the main sites were, what the fun activities were we could do together and some of the cultural settings.

The challenge involves collecting points for snapping certain pictures. I split mine into categories...some of which had some definite 'in jokes' involved. One of which was that there was a challenge to take a 'sausage' related picture in each section. Germans do love their wurst after all, and mine is no different! I also included lots of little romantic ones like 'take a picture of us holding hands in a boat'....or take a picture of us enjoying eating a bratwurst in the park...specific, hey?!

(I do own other clothes...this photo is from Germany! The sausage is a clue...)

The challenge can run for a couple of hours or all day if you want it to. I awarded 10 bonus points for each completed section. I gave him 4 hours to get 40 points from a possible 72 with the promise of a meal of his choice or massage as a reward. Needless to say...we now have lots of lovely pictures of Mannheim, a day full of memories and I am down a few euros for a meal.

What I can share with you is the following photo challenge I made especially for you guys, in case you visit London:

(Just right click on the image and save!)

I wrote my challenge in a Word document and then laminated it. This was to make it weather 'proof''. You will DEFINITELY need a plastic cover for the London Edition!

This challenge can be adapted so it's less of a 'date'. It could be a challenge between friends or even keep children occupied while you are travelling. I tested this out with a group of teenagers (I'm a teacher, if that makes that statement less weird) and we didn't lose one and kept their attention while walking around.

So there we have it: a way to travel, take pictures, and compete at the same time. Perfect!

I would love to hear your feedback on this idea (I doubt it's completely new, but I hadn't read about it anywhere before it popped into my head). You can catch me at my blog here or my Twitter here or even on Pinterest.

Please do get in contact. I really like having new people to talk to. And if you make one...I'd love to share it on my blog.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

You all made it through Monday! woo hoo! Today I have a lovely guest blogger here for you! Remember when I introduced you to my lovely sponsor Michelle from OnTheAdventure ? I seriously adore this adventurer! I was already pretty positive we would make great real life friends, and then I read her guest post and I am absolutely SURE we could have a great time following adventure after adventure together!

Hey Michelle...care to hike the Appalachian Trail together, or move to Hawaii, or something crazy like that? They have snow on the Big island...just an FYI because I know you love winter ;) Think about it lady!

Well I am off to sleep since I am waking up at 3AM to hike a volcano and watch the sunrise...oh this life is exhausting! {hehe}

XOXO

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Hello there, friends! Boy am I excited to be camping out at Tippee

Canoe today. I mean seriously excited. Like excited times about a gazillion. Its a real number and its

really how excited I am!

While Lauren is off on her own adventure (oh so jealous!), I thought I would share with you one adventure that I have been dying. to. go. on. Have you

ever read Into The Wild? I could quite possibly talk about Christopher McCandless aka

Alexander Supertramp for, oh, days... but I will exhibit some self control. If you haven't had a chance to read the book by Jon Krakauer or to see the film, its about an adventurer. An aesthetic voyager. A free spirit. A boy who walks the earth. Its about a journey across America and its. so. beautiful.

The first time I read Into The Wild I couldn't even wrap my mind around what McCandless did, much less what he saw. It was that book that ignited something serious inside of me. Ever since I have been wanting to see the world. To experience life. To soak in everything around me.

I want to start here. I want to start and see and experience America.

The wild, the untamed back country, mountains, and deep rivers. There is so much beauty here in

America and I want to see it all, starting with The Appalachian Trail.

The Appalachian Trail spans from Georgia to Main and canvases a

stunning mountainous terrain. This exists right here in America, people! Why aren't we all going right

now?

There is just something about the wild. Something about living and

breathing and just being outdoors that drives me crazy in the best way possible. Hiking The Appalachian Trail would be an absolute dream of mine and someday I think it may just have to happen.

Have you ever hiked The Appalachian Trail or something similar?

What did you think? If you haven't, would you do it!? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Before I go, I want to share one of my favorite quotes from Into

The Wild because I just can't resist.

"He was unheeded, happy, and near to the wild heart of life. He was alone and young and

wilful and wildhearted, alone amid a waste of wild air and brackish waters and the seaharvest of shells
and tangle and veiled grey sunlight."